Scott Bosworth

Another Grotto member, 32-year-old Scott Bosworth, is a biologist for the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.There's no need to fear such a diminutive beast, he explains.No offense to the vampire-slayers out there, but Bosworth says flat out that "bats typically do not attack people.When you disturb them they flutter around, navigating by echolocation.They are not trying to attack you or get into your hair.Only about 0.05 percent of bats carry rabies."

Biologists, says Bosworth, "typically find around four to five species of bats in a cave.

"We enter a cave and search through every nook and cranny for the bat," said Scott Bosworth of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.After that researchers use different ways to count the number of bats they find clustered tightly together for warmth. "Sometimes it's easier to count noses and sometimes it's easier to count the forearm bones we see.It just depends on the tightness of the cluster," added Bosworth.The bats in Avery County will hibernate until the weather warms up and insects start hatching.The Virginia Big-Ears will not emerge until this food source becomes available.A contributing factor to the Big-Eared's endangered status is its vulnerability.While hibernating the bats can only tolerate minimal disturbances and need the cave to maintain a stable air temperature. "Disturbances could be anything from humans nearby the cave having a loud conversation to raccoons going in and out of the cave," said Bosworth.
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"This is significant because it's only the third known hibernating site in North Carolina," said Bosworth."Fifty-five bats is generally not a huge number, but when you think about how small the population size is to begin with you understand that any addition is great."While researchers are very happy with this new finding, there are still some questions."Since bats do move around from cave to cave some during hibernation, this could be happening here as well," said Bosworth.Since there were weeks between the Black Rock Cave survey and the Black Rock Mystery Hole exploration it is possible that during that time some bats relocated from the Cave to the Mystery Hole.The researchers conduct the counts every two years and are looking forward to what future surveys bring them."We couldn't do these counts and explorations without the help of others and especially the Flittermouse Grotto," said Bosworth, "without their help and experience none of this would have been possible."

For biologist Scott Bosworth of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, a typical day on the job may involve descending into caves and mines to count bats.
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Lately, says Bosworth, e-mail has been piling up in his in box about a mysterious illness that's dealt Northern bat populations a hefty blow.
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Bosworth, who started caving about three years ago as part of his professional work, also belongs to Flittermouse Grotto, a local cavers' network. (Flittermouse is another word for "bat.") "Recreational cavers are definitely on the lookout," says Bosworth.

The program is "Going Batty," by N.C. Wildlife Commission biologist Scott Bosworth.Free to the public.Call 337-7383 or visit www.mountainwild.org.

"Last year in the Cranberry iron mine we had around 1,000 bats," said Scott Bosworth, another mountain wildlife diversity biologist with the WRC.

He's talking about the former Cranberry mine in Avery County, where several species of bats hibernate.The mine is gated and not accessible to the public.

As with the flying squirrels, biologists monitor the animals to keep tabs on their population and health.

Not surprisingly, bats don't give Bosworth the willies, a key trait he's looking for in volunteers.

"No, it gets me excited, seeing those bats," he said."This is a very big mine - you could drive a truck into it - and there are bats hanging all over the walls.It's really neat."

While you may be pumped up about delving into some caves and mines, control yourself - Bosworth says normally they don't take volunteers below ground because of the risk of injury and excessive disturbance of the bats.But you can help with bat counts in the summer when they trap bats with nets, a program that runs from May 15 through July 15.

"Volunteers can come out, but they can't handle the bats, because they can carry rabies," he said.
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Scott Bosworth, a N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission mountain wildlife diversity biologist, coordinates surveys for bats and numerous small mammals.If you're interested in assisting, contact Bosworth at 665-9608 or bosworthsc@

Scott Bosworth, a Mountain Wildlife Diversity Biologist with the Wildlife Resources Commission, has conducted these surveys twice at Grandfather Mountain.During the first trip he was looking for the water shrew and the long-tailed or "rock" shrew.He was successful in locating the rock shrew.

This time around Bosworth was looking for the water shrew and also hoping to locate a rock vole.Traps were set in the boulder fields for rock vole and in streams for the water shrew.

A group of students from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington were on hand as volunteers and took over a lot of the responsibility of running the traps.The traps were set during the day, left open throughout the night and then checked in the morning.

"Having the volunteers from UNC-W was great," said Bosworth.
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"The hoary bat is the largest in the state and in my opinion the neatest," said Bosworth.

Scott Bosworth, NC Wildlife Resources Commission, 30 Old Asbury Rd, Candler, North Carolina,

"We enter a cave and search through every nook and cranny for the bat," said Scott Bosworth of the NC Wildlife Resources Commission.After that researchers use different ways to count the number of bats they find clustered tightly together for warmth.

"Sometimes it's easier to count noses and sometimes it's easier to count the forearm bones we see.It just depends on the tightness of the cluster," added Bosworth.
...
"Disturbances could be anything from humans nearby the cave having a loud conversation to raccoons going in and out of the cave," said Bosworth.
...
"This is significant because it's only the third known hibernating site in North Carolina," said Bosworth."Fifty-five bats is generally not a huge number, but when you think about how small the population size is to begin with you understand that any addition is great."While researchers are very happy with this new finding, there are still some questions.

"Since bats do move around from cave to cave some during hibernation, this could be happening here as well," said Bosworth.Since there were weeks between the Black Rock Cave survey and the Black Rock Mystery Hole exploration it is possible that during that time some bats relocated from the Cave to the Mystery Hole.The researchers conduct the counts every two years and are looking forward to what future surveys bring them.

"We couldn't do these counts and explorations without the help of others and especially the Flittermouse Grotto," said Bosworth, "without their help and experience none of this would have been possible."

Scott Bosworth, a wildlife biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, led the tour into the Cranberry mine.

Why the fuss over a species that many of us fear is going to suck our blood and give us rabies?

The rabies fear is unfounded, Bosworth said.
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Bosworth spends much of his time nosing around mines and caves in the western part of the state monitoring the bat population.

The Cranberry mine, a massive cavern with six levels and a network of accessible and inaccessible corridors, is one of the most important stops on his rounds.
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"This was a partying place that was undergoing significant levels of disturbance," Bosworth said.

In 2002, the state stepped in, purchased the mineral rights to the mine, and acquired a 280-acre conservation easement to protect the bats.It later installed a 15,000-pound steel gate that bars people - but not bats - from exploring beyond the first 200 yards of the mine.

For our visit, Bosworth unlocked a bar from the gate, which created a small opening for us to slip through.With headlamps illuminating our path, we stuck mostly to the old rail line, the mine's main corridor.Occasionally, we walked over heaps of rubble to explore narrow corridors or wandered into enormous side caverns with 30-foot ceilings.

I expected to see colonies of dangling bats.Instead, Bosworth pointed to individual bats, slumbering in crevices and drill holes in the pocked walls and ceiling.

We hovered around the bats when we found them and some took pictures.But we couldn't mill around them long.Our bodies could raise the temperature around the bat by one or two degrees, which is enough to bother the bat, Bosworth said.

A disturbed bat has room to find another sleeping spot in the mine, which is another reason why it is so important for the state's bat population."There's great potential for this to be one of the best hibernating spots in Western North Carolina," he said.

It is also unusual for a hibernacula to house six bat species, Bosworth said.However, he and other biologists didn't find one of the six - the Virginia big-eared bat - during a recent survey.

That's not cause for alarm, he said.Since 1992, the number of Virginia big-eared bats found in the mine has ranged from 0 to 10.Bosworth is hopeful that these bats will eventually find the mine now that gates have been installed.